17 December 2004

Michael Howard Helps Constituent To Claim Compensation For Electricity Bill Overcharge

Michael Howard, Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe, has intervened in the case of Mrs H. I. Ibell of Romney Marsh, Kent who had been experiencing difficulty with her Centrica plc (British Gas) electricity account.

Mrs Ibell wrote to Mr Howard in November expressing concern that she had been over-charged as a result of using a metered account. Mrs Ibell changed to a key meter but found that the key she was given on the changeover of the meters only counted day units thus causing a large increase in her energy costs. 

Mr Howard wrote to Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica plc, regarding Mrs Ibell’s case. Sir Roy instigated an investigation resulting in compensation of £125 for Mrs Ibell including a £50 reimbursement for overpayment, £40 as compensation for a missed appointment and £35 to cover Mrs Ibell’s out of pocket expenses.

Mrs Ibell has now chosen to switch her electricity supply from British Gas to Seeboard Energy. As a result of Mr Howard’s intervention, the Chief Executive’s office has ensured that there will be no further delays in transferring Mrs Ibell’s electricity supply caused by queries on Mrs Ibell’s account.

Mr Howard said:

“As a pensioner, Mrs Ibell was understandably very worried about her energy costs. I was pleased to be able to help Mrs Ibell with her electricity bill and with the transfer to the new supplier of her choice.”